Brandy Bearden and husband Rich were on their way to the hospital when traffic got in the way.
The Woodbridge couple was traveling to Dewitt Army Hospital at Fort Belvoir on Tuesday, Dec. 13, when Brandy Bearden, 24, went into labor on the on-ramp connecting the HOV lanes to the northbound lanes of I-95 just south of the "mixing bowl" in Springfield.
Her husband, Rich, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, pulled the couple's Honda SUV onto the shoulder, noticed a pair of motorcycle patrol officers from the Fairfax County Police Department, and flagged them down. The original plan, said Brandy Bearden, was to wait with the officers until an ambulance could arrive.
"Then I realized I wasn't going be able to wait for the ambulance," she said.
The result was little Hannah Elizabeth Bearden, born in the back seat of the couple's sport utility vehicle. An ambulance arrived shortly after the birth, and emergency personnel cut the umbilical cord and transported mom and baby to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where they stayed overnight.
"I was a little freaked out beforehand, but I just dealt with it," said Brandy Bearden.